By Crystal Atwell, PharmD, and Meaghan Freiter
During their first business meeting, the 2009–10 APhA–ASP National Executive Committee (NEC) updated the APhA–ASP mission statement to include the phrase “to improve patient care.” While it might not have officially been written until then, the one theme that has stayed a part of APhA–ASP since the beginning is “service.”
The early years
When the Academy was formally organized in 1969, service to the community came largely through federal advocacy. As such, 1971–72 SAPhA National President, J. Craig Hostetler, of The University of Kansas, spent much of his term in office advocating for patients by testifying at congressional hearings and participating in White House meetings. It was not long after that a few formal opportunities to participate in national patient care events were developed.
Students participated in many collaborative projects with other health professionals during the first decade of SAPhA. The Appalachian Student Health Project, launched in the summer of 1969, teamed student pharmacists with medical, nursing, and dental students. These future health professionals traveled to rural America to help in an area with insufficient manpower to handle the multitude of health problems. This project was later expanded to the Indian Health Project and Migrant Workers Project, based out of the southwest. Another major community outreach project for the group was venereal disease education. One of the first programs was Project SPEED (Student Professionals Engaged in Education on Drugs), which was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health began in 1971.
The rampant drug abuse of the 1970s caused a public outcry for reform during the following decade. In the winter of 1981, a multidisciplinary group of health professionals, industry representatives, and state drug enforcement officials met at the White House Conference on Prescription Drug Misuse, Abuse, and Diversion. Lucinda L. Maine, then SAPhA Immediate Past-President, represented APhA at this meeting.
Throughout the 1970s, at the local level, chapters championed public education events during Poison Prevention Week and Pharmacy Week. Other areas included geriatric population events, campaigns to prevent venereal disease, and prevention of illicit drug use.
Setting the stage for change
By the beginning of the 1980s and throughout the decade, numerous changes to pharmacy practice and pharmacy education provided the foundation for APhA–ASP Chapters to take a prominent a role in patient care and community education. The Board of Pharmacy Specialties had formed and developed their first certifications in the areas of nuclear pharmacy, nutrition support, and pharmacotherapy. Health-system pharmacists were coming out of the basement and onto critical care floors to assist with medication management. Community pharmacy residency programs were beginning to form and provide additional clinical training.
APhA–ASP Chapters then began outreach to elementary schools to deliver programming on safe medication use. From puppet shows to poster coloring and board games, the creativity and passion of student pharmacists emerged. To support these efforts nationally, APhA–ASP provided best practice articles and tips through
Pharmacy Student (now Student Pharmacist). Members also received reference materials developed by APhA–ASP.
As the chapter programming and student involvement grew, the need to improve communication and patient counseling skills also increased. Thus, the APhA–ASP National Patient Counseling Competition (NPCC) was born. NPCC was developed by faculty members at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. It was such a success that when APhA–ASP was approached to adopt the competition nationally, it was immediately accepted. The first national competition was held during the 1985 APhA Annual Meeting. A total of 31 student pharmacists, representing approximately half of the schools of pharmacy, participated during the inaugural event.
A new era begins
With the national success of the NPCC, chapters performing more service events locally and the pharmacists’ role continuing to become more patient-focused, APhA–ASP was primed to take on the first nationwide patient care campaign: Operation Immunization. The program had two goals: increase the number of adult immunizations and enhance student pharmacist knowledge of immunizations. APhA–ASP partnered with the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) to reach the campaign goals.
Seventy-nine APhA–ASP Chapters and 40 SNPhA Chapters received planning kits in fall 1997 and partnered with local pharmacies to host their events. With only 22 states permitting pharmacists to administer vaccines at the time, Operation Immunization quickly developed into an opportunity to advocate for the expansion of pharmacy services.
Inspired by the work of the University of Southern California Chapter, APhA–ASP would go on to launch Operation Diabetes 4 years later. Student pharmacists would perform glucose screenings in the community to identify patients with undiagnosed diabetes and increase the public’s awareness of the role of the pharmacist in diabetes care. The success of the project supported the continuation of screenings in the community and would eventually inspire the development of Operation Heart in 2010.
During the 1970s, pharmacists tackled the issue of illicit drug abuse in the communities. In 2010, the issue hit much closer to home as prescription drug misuse became rampant. APhA–ASP passed resolution statement 2010.2—Substance Abuse Education, which called for action from the profession to tackle the epidemic.
In response, APhA–ASP teamed up with Generation Rx program creator, The Ohio State University, and identified a program supporter, Cardinal Health Foundation, to begin the Generation Rx program.
Never forgetting its community pharmacy roots, in 2015 APhA–ASP was proud to partner with Johnson & Johnson and Scholastic to educate 5th and 6th grade students and their families about the safe use and storage of OTC medicines through OTC Medicine Safety. As the medication experts, who better than pharmacists and student pharmacists to serve in this vital role within communities across the United States?
This past fall, APhA–ASP looked once again to the chapters across the country to spark the latest patient care initiative, the Women’s Health Campaign. In just 5 short months, the campaign reached just over 150,000 individuals through education.
Embracing the calling of caring
Student pharmacists have always been committed to giving back to their communities and supporting the advancement of the profession. Both national APhA–ASP patient care projects and local chapter projects inspire student pharmacists to learn more about prevalent health care issues and challenges them to collaborate, innovate, and impact their communities through service, leadership, and advocacy.
In the late 1980s, the outgoing APhA–ASP (NEC) recognized the important contributions members could make, realizing that without their support, SAPhA would not exist. That sentiment is as true today as it was then.
It is student pharmacists working every day to improve the health of communities that makes APhA–ASP. Student pharmacists will drive the profession forward. No matter what the future holds, giving back and service will be at the center of APhA–ASP.
Thank you to our supporters!
The long-standing success of our on-going national initiatives would not be possible without our supporters.
Operation Immunization—Albertsons (1997)
Operation Diabetes—Rite Aid (2001)
Generation Rx—Cardinal Health Foundation (2010)
Operation Heart—Walgreens (2010)
OTC Medicine Safety—Johnson & Johnson (2015)
Women’s Health Campaign—Merck & Co., Inc. (2018)
More projects from the past
APhA–ASP/Merck Student Pharmacy Project Grants Program 1990s
This program awarded funding and provided national recognition for projects that foster pharmacy association activities as a vital element of pharmacy education. The program resulted in strengthening chapter level programming and provided grant writing experience to students.
Heartburn Awareness Challenge 2004–10
Heartburn Awareness Challenge was a national patient education campaign sponsored by Procter and Gamble and conducted in cooperation with the National Heartburn Alliance. The Heartburn Awareness Challenge provided students with resources and tools to improve their presentation skills.
Operation Self Care 2012–14
Launched after the discontinuation of the Heartburn Awareness Challenge, this patient care project built upon the previous program success and expand opportunities to discuss OTC medication. Self-care topics included vitamins, sunscreen, first aid, and dental hygiene.
Project CHANCE (Chapters Helping Advocate for Needy Communities Everywhere) 2004–13
Project CHANCE focused on underserved patients with the addition of a grant-like application, regular hours spent at a 340B government subsidized clinic, and a year-end poster presentation on the results of the project.